Forever, Now and Never
by NeonSyzygy
Summary: There were so many lives that they could have lived. Being the Titans was just how it worked out. Rob/Rae semi-AU, M for violence, swearing, etc, One-Shot.


Uh… I'm putting a warning on this for violence, almost-lemons (I couldn't be bothered) and swearing. Don't like, don't read.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing apart from the plot :D

"_I'll abandon my pure heart  
>If I'm allowed to live and love you<br>I won't hesitate to cut off these wings  
>Let me surrender myself to the devil."<br>-_Kagamine Rin, _"The Alluring Secret- Black Vow"_

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><p>Night was the one time that the Titans Tower was quiet. Of course, there was the usual wind rustling through corridors and windows, and the constant noise of cars from the city, but you got used to that. So, to anyone there, the Tower was quiet.<p>

But not still. No, far from that. Lights blinked from all of the consoles, and the security cameras shifted from side to side. And in her room, Raven tossed and turned, dreams taking her away….

* * *

><p>"You may choose any one of them as your servant, my Raven."<p>

The violet-haired princess of the Azarath tribe looked over the lines of men, studying their worn faces. The smallest boy, although he was still taller than her, caught her eye. He was skinnier and paler than all of the others, but he had blue eyes deeper than the sea. They drew her in, and she found herself staring at him. She turned around and looked at her mother, the head of the tribe, and pointed to the boy.

"That one."

Her mother looked concerned. "Are you sure? There are many men more handsome, honourable and worthy in the tribe." Raven said nothing, simply beckoning the boy to stand by her side.

* * *

><p>Robin walked through the circus, marvelling at the brightly-coloured tents and smiling performers. His father had had a business meeting with the owner, and so the boy had chosen to look around rather than listening to boring real estate shit.<p>

He saw a line of people reaching out of a tent, and wondered what was so interesting. Then he saw the posters plastered onto the walls.

"See the amazing Siamese twins! Marvel at the Boy without a Heart! Watch the beautiful and seductive demoness!"

Raising an eyebrow at the unrealistic claims, he lined up for entrance. Several minutes later, he walked inside the dark tent, looking side to side at the glass cages. They may have been odd, but the statements on the posters were certainly true.

On his right were two young girls joined- literally- at the hip. They were completely opposite, despite being twins. One was as pale as snow, with hair to match, whereas the other had dark brown hair. Turning his head, he saw a man with a hole straight through his chest where his heart was. His make-up had been styled to make it look like he was crying.

At the end of the tent was a slightly bigger cage. He couldn't quite see what was in it, as the person was hunched over, showing their naked back. They shifted, and the shadows changed to become huge wings as black as night. Robin squatted down to try and see better when the figure turned around. It was a girl around his age, almost naked if not for the scraps of a black dress that she was huddled in. Her purple hair was long and wild around her face, and her eyes glowed completely red.

He was about to stand up and leave when the girl started to crawl toward the glass wall. Transfixed by her eyes, he stayed totally still as she came closer and put one hand to the glass. Drawn by some internal instinct, Robin moved one of his hands and placed it opposite hers, his fingers mirroring the girl's. He stared as the red of her eyes faded, replaced by deep purple. She smiled once at him, and then fell unconscious onto the ground.

* * *

><p>The castle echoed with the quick, sharp footsteps of Princess Raven as her heels clacked on the marble floor.<p>

"Raven!" came the call from a black haired boy a few steps behind her. Raven whirled around, looking like she could kill something at any time.

"Leave me alone, Robin! I never asked to be betrothed to you! Do you think that I want to spend the rest of my life with an idiot like you?" The boy laughed cruelly. "That's what I like about you, you know. You never listen to anyone else. It'll get you killed someday, no doubt, but its fun to watch." Raven gave him a death glare, one that anyone else would have withered and died before. "You fucking-''

She was cut off as Robin stepped forward, grabbed her shoulder and pressed his mouth onto hers. She was stunned for a minute before she came back to reality, and then forcefully shoved him off her. He smirked, shrugging his shoulders before turning around and walking away. "I had to try it at least once. See ya, wifey." Raven ignored him and stalked away, swearing to get back at him.

* * *

><p>Trigon spoke through the head priest of the once peaceful temple, taunting them like animals. "Do you ever think you could beat me, little Raven?" he said to the girl lying chained to a stone table. "And your little boyfriend here," he kicked the bloody figure of the boy lying on the ground. "Thought that he could save you. How….. cute."<p>

Raven cried out as he picked up the unconscious Robin by his shredded cape. "What do you think? Should I kill him to hurt you? Or maybe I can force information out of him…. Either way, there's not much use for him." He drew a long sacrificial knife out of his robes, positioning it in-front of Robin's throat.

"No!" Raven screamed. "Leave him! Do whatever you want with me, but leave him out of this!" The demon appeared to consider it. "You're the one who dragged him into it, not me. However, I think I'll take you up on that offer." He dropped the Boy Wonder on the ground, walking over to Raven. "You know something? Being trapped in hell leaves you with not much to do. And right now…." The priest possessed by Trigon smiled, something that stirred fear in the very depths of Raven's heart as he dragged the knife up her arm.

"I really need to torture someone."

* * *

><p>The siren of the Titans Tower blared long and loud, waking four of the Titans from their slumber. They arrived at the T-Car, only to see that one of them was missing. The Boy Wonder looked around. "Where's Raven?"<p>

He ran up to her room, trying to waste as little time as possible, seeing as it should have been being used to kick some villain's ass. He knocked on the door, listening for any sound from inside. "Raven? Are you in there?" There was no reply. After waiting a minute, he used the override code on the door, and it slid open. He rushed in to see Raven still asleep in her bed. He walked over and shook her lightly. When she didn't wake up, he shook harder, and there was still no response. Looking worried, he grabbed his communicator out of his belt, contacting Cyborg, who was still upstairs. _"Hey man, what's up with Rae?"_

"She's still asleep, and normally I wouldn't be worried, but she's not waking up, no matter what I try." He was asking if BB and Star could handle the bad guy on their own when Raven started muttering and rolling around restlessly. He moved over to watch her when she suddenly started screaming and thrashing. He dropped the communicator and tried to hold her down, although without much success. He picked her up in his arms as she stopped screaming and simply groaned like she was in pain, as if that hadn't been established by the screaming. Robin reached for the dropped communicator.

"I'm taking her to the infirmary. Can you meet me there?"

* * *

><p>The slight servant boy poured the lukewarm water of the bath into a nearby river, removing the barrel from Raven's tent. He returned, and the purple haired girl stared at him as he bowed to her. She waved her hand dismissively. "Stop doing that. I don't want a servant who has no opinion and the intelligence of a potato." Robin, for that was what she had named him, nodded. "As you say, milady."<p>

Raven looked at him oddly. "That's a funny thing to say while in a tribe. Where do you really come from?" The boy shook his head. "Nowhere, milady. I have never been anyone, and I never will be." Raven looked at the ground for a minute. "Whatever. Come, help me undress." Robin nodded and walked over to her.

He unlaced the strings on the back of her dress with deft, gentle fingers as Raven held her hair out of the way. She became unclothed very quickly, and she moved and sat down on the edge of her bed. "Robin?"

"Yes milady?"

"Will you unravel my hair?" In answer, he came and sat behind her on the bed. He was good, Raven thought, to not even blush with her naked. She sighed as his fingers brushed her back, moving around the long strands of hair. He finished, laying down the last tendrils, and she turned around and kissed him, tugging at his shirt.

It had been their routine for weeks now. He would leave, they would talk, he would undress her and then take her hair out of it's long braid. It had become normal, for them at least.

She buried her hands in his spiky hair, pulling him closer harshly. His kisses became hungry, more wanting, but he suddenly stiffened, shifting away. Raven looked up. "What is it?" He stared into her eyes, and Raven felt like he could see her soul.

"We shouldn't be doing this. You're the princess of the tribe. You'll rule it one day, like your mother, and you need someone who can support you, provide a good image, and a serving boy isn't the one to do that." In response she kissed him again, as stiff as he was."I don't care! Look, Robin, I love you, and I always will. Whatever they say, I can ignore it. If they really don't like it, we can run away to somewhere they won't ever find us, and start our own life."

Robin smiled and pulled Raven into his arms, burying his head in her hair. She sat for a minute, content and then looked up and made their lips meet. Her fingers explored his hardened abs as his hands moved lower, needing more. "You'll always be something to me, Robin" she whispered in a moment of pleasure. Always needing more…

* * *

><p>Robin silently followed the circus performers who were carrying the girl out of the freak tent. They were muttering between themselves, and while he had good hearing, he couldn't make out what they were saying. He moved around the back of the tent as they carried her inside, and patiently waited until they left. Once they had gone, he lifted the flap and quickly slipped inside.<p>

The girl was lying on a small, rickety bed, seemingly sleeping, with her wings bent awkwardly to the side. Robin knelt down beside her and brushed a stray strand of hair off her face, wondering who she was. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and stared at him in a mixture of fear and adoration. Robin was too shocked to say anything. "You….." said the girl. "You stopped it."

Robin was about to ask what he had stopped when a noise behind him alerted him to the presence of others. "Quick!" he said to the girl. "Go under the tent, there are some empty crates outside." Her eyes widened and she slipped off the bed, Robin following behind. They crammed themselves into the boxes just in time, hearing voices behind them. "Shit! Where did she go?"

A second voice talked. "Shut it, Elliot. Do you want the boss to find out? He spent ages trying to capture that bitch, he'd have our skins made into cushions if he knew she escaped."

'Elliot' muttered something about being a smart-ass know-it-all, and left with the other person. Huddled together, Robin and the girl waited until they were far enough away, and then climbed out. Robin looked at the girl, and took both of her hands in his. "Come with me. We'll run, and you can come live with my father and me."

She looked terrified for a minute before nodding and quietly saying, "I'd like that." Robin smiled and went to move away when she caught his sleeve. "I'm Raven."

"I'm Robin."

It had been years since Robin had rescued Raven from the horrible circus, but it still came out at night. Her eyes became red, and she thrashed and screamed before becoming silent and bloodthirsty. He was the only one who could send it back into the depths of her mind again. So night after night, he held it back, and night after night, held her in his arms as she cried. There wasn't anything they could ever do about it, but it was why he loved her. She never gave up.

* * *

><p>The church bells rang loudly for the princess that day. Given how much they had hated each-other, no-one ever thought that they would actually managed to get married, but here they were, happy with each other and setting a record time for not throwing insults around. Raven walked gracefully down the steps, her train sweeping behind and Robin in a tuxedo on her arm. She stuffed her dress into the waiting car and closed the door, glad to be free of the overexcited crowd.<p>

The chauffer took them back to the palace, and they kept up appearances until they were inside. They then dropped their arms back to their sides, and walked several paces away from the other person. She followed him to their room, and began to get out of the hot, heavy dress. She got to the laces on her back when she realised that she couldn't undo them by herself. "Hey, idiot. Help me get out of this thing." Robin walked over and slowly loosened the dress, and Raven stepped out of it gracefully.

Without warning, Robin's arms snaked around her waist and held her still. Raven tried pulling away, but he was stronger than he looked. He nipped at the skin of her neck and turned it into a kiss, moving them up her face. She kissed him back when they reached her mouth, and they fell onto the bed together.

"I still hate you."

"Right."

* * *

><p>Robin slowly opened his eyes to a dark red brick roof. His head hurt and he could feel scabs of encrusted over the cuts he had gotten while fighting. He lay for a minute, trying to regain the strength to get up, when he heard a moan and then whimper coming from somewhere to his right. Fatigue forgotten, he jumped up, looking for the source. He gasped when he noticed the long stone table nearby, with someone strapped on top of it. Normally, that wouldn't have worried him too much, but what did was the amount of blood.<p>

It covered their skin and dripped off the table, pooling in indents of the rock floor. Racing over, he saw a messy shock of purple hair spread out and a pale face breathing heavily. "Raven!" he stroked the side of her head, one of the few places that appeared not to be cut. Her eyes snapped open and took a minute to focus on his face. "Robin..." she whispered.

"Give me a minute, I'll get you out of these." She shook her head weakly. "Wha-?" questioned Robin.

"Have you seen how much blood there is? I know you told me to always have hope, but I know that there's no way I can get out with these injuries." A tear ran down her cheek, tracking a single clean path through the blood.

"No! I will get you out of here!" She laughed lightly, using what remaining power she had to bend Robin forward, kissing him once on the cheek. "The least that I can do is save you. Goodbye…"

A tendril of black energy pushed him away and formed a dome over him. The Boy Wonder screamed her name as she began to whisper "Azarath Metrion Zinthos… Azarath Metrion Zinthos…" Her eyes glowed white as she screamed, "I WILL NOT LET YOU TAKE HIM!" White light glared, and a huge explosion rippled outward from where Raven was. The shockwave even hit Robin, as safe as he was in the dark magic dome, and obliterated everything in sight.

The light faded, and the blackness above him faded away. Robin stumbled into a wasteland. There was nothing but a crater for at least a 500m radius, any features of the land blasted away. In the very centre, where Raven had last been, was a great stone statue of a raven taking flight. In shock, the boy walked up, placed one hand on a wing and fell to his knees.

"Raven…."

* * *

><p>Raven floated in a sea of black. She could see nothing, sense nothing, and had no clue where she was. Suddenly, images of a thousand different places flashed through her mind.<p>

_Torches burning in the dark night, and a flight away from them. Her purple hair cut short, and a life lived out in hiding._

_People passing by everyday, but being trapped behind glass. Madness fading to deep blue eyes._

_Whispered words in the night. Endless passion, our complete secret._

_Blood leaking from every pore, and a raven in flight._

_And a tower….._

"_Raven! Please, wake up!" yelled the Boy Wonder, leaning over the hospital bed. "We need you here…. I need you to come back…" He started sobbing, tears staining the crisp white sheets._

The memories kept flashing, but Raven forced them to stop. She floated in the blackness, her breathing the only sound.

This is the midway point, she thought. I could choose any one of these lives, and it would become my own. I'd be starting anew, starting a new existence. And all of them have something I want in them, or more than one. Her mind wandered, thinking of all the memories. Suddenly, a voice screamed "RAVEN!" in her mind. A voice that she knew.

Her thoughts changed to the Titans. They need me. I deny it, but I need them too, and what could be a more perfect life than spending all of it with friends? Nothing, she thought. I will go back to them. "I will go back!" She had yelled it to make her promise seem more real, but the opposite happened.

The darkness began to dissolve, drained away by some unseen force. She felt herself be pulled, and tried to resist, but couldn't stop the inevitable flow.

* * *

><p>She opened her eyes. Where could I be? She thought. At the least, I hope it's not—"Raven!" She felt a pressure on the side of where she was lying, so it must be some form of bed. Who could it be? A black mask entered her field of vision. "You're awake!"<p>

_Robin….._

She threw her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her. "Welcome back." She peeled herself away from him reluctantly as he looked into her eyes. "What happened?" Raven smiled, a rare sight for anyone. "I just went on a little trip, that's all." Robin lifted an eyebrow, from what she could tell. "And what'd you see?" She laughed.

"Nothing of any real importance."

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><p>XD I'm so proud of myself….. That's pretty much the longest single document I've ever written, 7 pages in total!<p>

Did you guys manage to catch all of the references in there? I've added mentions of characters in Pandora Hearts (The twins, 'Elliot,' and when Trigon says 'I really need to torture someone'), Portal 2 ('the intelligence of a potato') and Bleach (The guy with no heart and 'wifey'), and there's also a reference to Part 3 of The End.

In case you didn't work it out, what Raven was seeing was series of different existences that might have happened in a different time, or place, or world. I was simply showing that no matter their positions and whether they are lovers or not, Robin and Raven will always have a bond that can't be broken.

I feel like it was a little confusing… anyone else getting the same impression? If so, I might post chapters of the individual stories, just for a bit of extra fun. This was also supposed to be a Valentine's Day fic, but I'm posting it a little bit before so it doesn't get swamped in the rush of stories that always happens around then.

This didn't end up being as long as I would have liked, so to bulk it up a little, I'm adding in a preview of my next AU Rob/Rae story, 'Daughter of Evil.' It won't be published for a while, because I need to finish some of my other stories, but keep an eye out for it!

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><p>Raven choked on the smoke, her dress tangling around her ankles as Robin pulled her along. She heard shouts and screams behind her as the Valkyrie led the green-clad soldiers through the palace. They only made her run faster.<p>

The princess and her servant arrived at a small wooden door that led to the slave's quarters, the boy kicking it open to avoid touching the burning hot metal handle. As they ran through, Raven paused, hearing a child cry for help. Robin turned to face her. "What are you doing? We need to leave, now!" She shook her head, slumping against the wall. "I'm tired of running. Let them come, I'll give them a good fight." Her servant looked incredulous. "You think they're going to give you mercy? They'll kill you, for god's sake!" She shrugged. "Then let them. I won't run away any more. It's my castle, my country. I can't just leave it."

Robin stared at her for a long moment before grabbing her hand and pulling her up to standing. Raven pulled away from him, annoyed that he would disobey her, when one strong hand grabbed her shoulder and moved her toward the boy, capturing her lips with his own. He pulled away, flushed, and rested his forehead against hers.

"I don't want you to die." Raven made a noise that was half a laugh, half a sob, pushing Robin away as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "To think that it took a war for us to admit it." She reached for the door, straightening as she opened it, steeling herself for what would most likely be her death. As she stepped through, the princess turned around, her purple eyes meeting his deep blue ones.

"Run."


End file.
